CKU-A or BUST!!!

OK! I am in total panic! There's a huge pile of STUFF in the corner of my dinning room...homework spread out on the desk in the living room...pictures all over the place BUT I vaccumed and cleaned the house - where's the priority?! I'm off to CKU-A tomorrow - UGH!!!!! OK, I have until tomorrow afternoon to get my act together.

So, thought I'd post here and maybe I'd feel better? LOL! I feel better! So much that I'll post some pictures on what I've been working on such as:


This is for our album track ("Elements of Style") "All About ME" layout swap.








I'm hoping to make more of these for the tag swap (a lot of folks have made 100)...really liked how it turned out but the work on these things! I have to remember to save one for me! LOL!









This page was for a CKU themed page swap and everyone got theirs back BEFORE we headed to CKU. Then Charity (our host) did something special...she made a CD of ALL the pages and sent one to every participant! WOW!! What a sweetie!!!


OK...now I really need to get stuff done. I already have a quarter of it in the car so I'm doing good for now! LOL! Wish me luck! Hope to post some more when I recover! :0)

A Lovely Time!

Well, I made it through the weekend! LOL!! The boys are finished with their Saturday Japanese school (end of the year on Saturday - YEAH!) and I survived the tea gathering at my house.

I was hoping for 8 to 10 ladies but we ended up with six wonderful Delta Zetas (just like our Founders!) and everything was DELICIOUS!!! A big thank you to our alumnae chapter president, MargeT, who was kind enough to act as co-hostess and make most of these wonderful treats!!! I had fun taking some pictures before the guests arrived and one of Marge explaining what we had on the "menu" (homemade scones, herb triangles, little rose cakes, pinwheel sandwiches among our treats!). What do you think?

Aren't these baskets cute?! Filled with Easter/Spring chocolates for each guest!




Finally, an excuse to use my Wedgewood!!


A beautiful gift from MargeT! Isn't she sweet?!




Marge's "Food Talk"



I had a wonderful time and I hope the other ladies did too! So sorry that the others had to miss all the fun and yummy treats...you all truly missed out! Once I get the recipes from Marge, I will post them here!

On Sunday evening, we had a great time with our friends, the Takizawas, who were kind enough to make a crab dinner - can I say FABULOUS!!!!!!!! Even little Hiro loved it...so much of it! Hosho never says enough when it comes to crab but this time, he had more than his fill! LOL!! They took the time to go to Chinatown and hand picked live crabs. Then when we arrived, the crab were steamed and fresh off the pot, we ate! Some pics:










The crabs BEFORE and the crabs AFTER and well, let's say we enjoyed! Sorry about the last picture....I think I had a Foster's beer before taking this picture...a little blurry - LOL!! It was such a fun time! The boys enjoyed their boys' company (both sides are the same age and the oldest two will be in the same Japanese 6th grade class next year so that will be COOL!). Their big sister was smart to go over to a friend's house...who wants to hang out with little boys esp. four of them!!! LOL!!

PHEW! What a hectic, busy BUT FUN weekend!

It's March?!

LOL!! OK, I need to update my blog! OY! Where did the time go? Today is Friday and usually I'm up to my eyeballs in correcting Japanese homework! BUT tomorrow is the last day of school for the year....YEAH!! Also, it's about 50 degrees and sunny...the boys just got home to drop book bags off....now they've escaped! LOL!! I finished most of the corrections AND am looking forward to not waking up 5:30am....I get to sleep in for an hour! My friend, Fiona, stopped by and the look on her face of me sleeping in until 6:30am did not sit well with her :0)))

OH! I have to post this....Fiona, whom I met through the boys' elementary school last year (a fellow mom & a SBer), is just the funniest person I've ever met! She is so sweet! Well, I'm just so excited when I got this terrific homemade gift from her! She made a paper bag album just for ME! No one ever made me something special like this! I am just THRILLED!!!!!!!! Thank you, Fiona! Sorry if I didn't show too much emotion...I was just STUNNED!!!!!! Here's some pics:
















Isnt' that SWEET of her to do this for ME!!! Love it!! THANK YOU!!!

Tomorrow is another day and I am hosting an afternoon tea party for my sorority sisters (Delta Zeta Sorority)! It will be a first for us as we meet to do other things so this should be fun (and yummy!!)! I'm expecting a half a dozen guests...hope to be surprised by some who haven't RSVPed to show up! Hope to post some pictures of that event!

Beginning of March just flew with all the swaps, circle journals and track homework for CKU-A (among other things) - it's just scary! I still have to email Naoko-san (Hello! I will email SOON!). I also tried out for a couple of contest & DT calls but didn't pan out. Here's one I did for "Good To The Last..." DT:


It's from last Halloween...not your typical halloween colors but it came out GREAT! The boys loved it! But alas, the DT coordinator didn't...that's OK! Just keep chipping away!


OK...off to clean some more and then time for dinner! Have a great night...wish I was with Fiona and the rest of the gang cropping the weekend away! Maybe next time!

Good-bye, February!

Well, according to my computer's clock, it's less than an hour before March 1st is upon us! YIKES! Where did the time go?! That means FOR ME, I have less than a month to prepare for CKU-A!!!

OK...I need to stop participating in swaps and get in gear with my homework which I barely scrape the surface (SHHHhh! Don't tell the JUNKITZ instructors...they're working so hard as this is their first CKU album track!)!!!!!

So this past Sunday, I was able to go to the Pre-CKU crop at Archivers in Bloomingdale, IL from 11am to 6pm. My friend, Miho, and I sat together! We made plans on what to bring (esp. FOOD! LOL!!) and how things are going to work out. I also had the chance to meet a fellow DT from JADs, Dalis! She just got into CKU through a transfer, got into the host hotel, just found out she was pregnant, won a prize at the crop and found ME! How lucky can one girl get in a month?! LOL!! Here are some pictures I took:












Some of the IL JUNKies...JulieG, Me & KellyP















This is the rolodex swap we did for the Chicago Far West CKUer's group. Mine is the "Mickey Mouse" one in the lower right corner...thanks, Dalis! HA!
















...and this is my friend, Dalis, who hit "jackpot" in more ways than one :0)

During the weekend, my "little" brother, Dave, came into town from Tokyo! I felt kinda bad that I left on Sunday to go to the crop but I was looking forward to this and had paid months in advance. Well, he knows how crazy I am about scrapbooking so he went off and did some shopping & errands so it worked out! We went out to dinner after I got back from Archivers and had a great time! I love seeing my family! I'm hoping that my other brother and family will be coming out to see us in the summer! Just what I need FOUR crazy boys in the house...hmmm, CAMP anyone?! LOL!!

OK...off to bed!!!

Swaps & Stuff...

Well, let's say that these swaps of mine are really getting out of hand! Can't leave the house without the pressure of completing one or making a major dent or mailing out one before the deadline!!! AH!!!!!! LOL!

Today was one of those days AND the boys had half day of school so while they were studying away, mom was power altering 20 CDs for a swap that needed to be out by the afternoon! This was the end result...what do you think? Yeah, I'm crazy but I'm a scrapbooker - LOL!!!












This is the front of the altered CDs and...












here are the back.

Then I went ahead and finished Dawn's CJ (theme: CKU)...a semi-altered CD. It came out like this...












I finally broke down and bought those darn Prima Flowers! But you know, they are cute on this layout...hope Dawn thinks so too!

Oh, before I forget, I also wanted to show the other CJ (theme: Friendship). I recently went to a "late" holiday dinner party that was hosted by my college roommate & pledge sister @ Gamma Phi Beta (obviously before I joined Delta Zeta Sorority!), Rita. Then this CJ arrived! I've known these ladies since froshman year back in August of 1980! So that makes it 26 years that we've known each other and kept in touch for that long! Especially with me...moving to Japan, Chicago, New Jersey and back to Chicago. So decided to make a layout of my special friendship with them and the second page is friendship quotes that I have enjoyed in the past.














The next CJ challenge is grandfather theme...YIKES! A tough one but I'm ready! Can't decide whether to do my father as a grandfather or my own grandfather...hmmm.

In the meanwhile, I have to finish a rolodex swap. I did one but not sure if I like it...so it's back to sketching another idea. But have to get to bed...another Saturday morning and that means Saturday Japanese School! This time we will go straight to school...I have library duty from 9am to 12:15pm. There seems to be a pattern this year, I've been going to that school once a month (well, March is the end of the school year so that might be why I'm not going in for anything). In April, I'm on school yard duty....what is school yard duty?! LOL!! I have to make sure the kids play safely and nicely....you think we parents have nothing to do on Saturdays?! But I will cooperate AND it's another excuse to take picture (unless that's in the rule book) - heehee! Good night all!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Well, I made it through the day! LOL! I was asked to bake 30 heart-shaped brownies for my third grader's class!!! The class mother talked to me right before the party, my survey at the beginning of the year said "I can't bake if my life depended on it!" She didn't sleep very well last night - OY! I feel bad! They turned out fine...so tempted to nibble but did not! My house now smells of chocolate! I had extra so I gave them to my neighbors :0)
















They don't look so bad - right? Looks like everyone had a great time...they're great kids!

Last Saturday was my sorority's first meeting of the year and it was a lunch 'n craft day! This time we took an idea from Martha Stewart and did a "dot painted ceramic" thing. I loved how mine turned out! We might try this again since everyone else enjoyed themselves. It's pretty easy to do.




Here's my blue and white square plate after I baked it in the oven on 300 degrees for 30 minutes to set the paint. Now I can use it for our upcoming afternoon tea in March with my Delta Zeta sisters!! So excited!














This is Carole and she made this beautiful trim along her vibrant red bowl. Love it!!

Hope everyone has a lovely valentine's day...off to make dinner and bake more brownies (for dessert!)! xoxo

SETSUBUN!

Boy, it's been awhile since I've posted! Well, two stomach flus (the boys) and a mysterious swollen foot (me) later...we're back on track!

It was so sad that my youngest son had to miss his BIG field trip of the year...Brookfield Zoo but that stomach flu knocked him out like I've never seen before. But he did get to see "March of The Penguins" and did his Penguin presentation (power point even! LOL!). I had to miss my meeting with some CKU-A ladies from the Chicago far west suburbanites!

Today we had our SETSUBUN ceremony at church. It is full of fun and great time for everyone! Setsubun ("division of season") is a celebration held on either February 3 or 4, one day before the start of spring according to the Japanese lunar calendar. For centuries, the Japanese have been performing rituals with the purpose of chasing away evil spirits.
In modern days, the most commonly performed setsubun ritual is the throwing of roasted beans around one's house or at temples/shrines. When throwing the beans, people shout "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" ("Devils out, happiness in"). Afterwards one eats the number of beans that corresponds to that person's age.











This is our ONI (aka TakaONI)!












Not a great picture...they kept moving! Actually, they were throwing the beans out to the congregation members but they are also throwing bags of beans with a piece of paper which indicates what prizes they got (ie. mug set, bag of candy, calculator). It's a sight to see when you see all these people diving towards the floor getting these prized bags! LOL!!

It was a long day but was great to see alot of the members come out for SETSUBUN!

PHEW!!!

That's all I can say! LOL!!

The lottery is over (for now)! Taka picked #10 and Hiro picked #27 which means that it's less likely that I will be class mom in Hiro's class BUT with Taka, there is a "slight" chance I will be. The kids' moms that picked from 1 - 10 are in the "danger" zone due to families moving to Japan or other locations from the Chicagoland area, expectant mothers, serving as class mom in the last two years (they get an exemption for "serving") or dropping Japanese school all together.

Now my next challenge is the bus monitor lottery! OY!!!!!!!!!! As bus monitor, you are the liaison between the riders' families, school bus company and school. This time, it will be the parents that draw the number. I make DH do so that I don't hear about it later :0) That won't happen until the end of the school year (mid-March). There is too much stress attending this school - LOL!!

OK, enough of this stuff and on to my favorite subject - scrapbooking!!!

CKU-A Chicago is around the corner and I'm in TONS of swap (what was I thinking?!) - LOL!! Wanted to show off my first circle journal and I even decorated the cover...hope it stays on till the end & beyond! The theme is SIMPLE JOYs and it is whatever the author wants it to be....a cup of coffee, music, family & friends.... So what do you think?













Now I've got to finish a recipe swap that needs to be mailed out tomorrow...Irish Soda Bread! LOL...I have green blood in my veins (shhh! Nobody knows!)!!!! Have to pop over to Archivers and get some St. Patty's PP.

Disappointed but...

hey, gave it my best shot! I'm so happy for the new ScrapWorks DT members...there were some awesome submissions! I esp. liked the mobile piece - VERY cool! So now on to more submissions...be it magazine calls, idea book calls or more DT calls - wish me luck!

Well, today is a special day for a young man I know! Heehee! It's my youngest son's 9th birthday and is very proud of himself for reaching this goal! Here's a LOVELY picture of him with his Tiramisu (sp?) birthday cake that his daddy went to two bakeries to find.



















Happy birthday, "little" Hiro!

Well, it is snowing tonight and we're supposed to get between 2" to 8"....boy, that's a wide range so your guess is as good as mine! We'll see by 5:30am when I wake up to make the boys' breakfast and box lunches for their Saturday Japanese school. Tomorrow the kids will draw numbers to see whose mother will be the class mother for next year and they call it "volunteering"?! - more like forced volunteer! They have 800+ total student body and they can't find anyone to volunteer as class mom?! Each class has about 25 to 30 students. The school has grade levels from kindergarten to high school. If they do that with the American local school district, can you imagine what kind of rutkus (sp?) that would cause?! LOL! Sooooo I am NOT looking forward to this so call lottery...the higher the number, the better! Keeping my fingers crossed all day tomorrow!

OK...gotta go to bed!

The woes of design team submission...

you run out of steam! LOL!! I dragged my feet long enough that I ended up sending my ScrapWorks submission via express mail ($14.00+!!)...I must be crazy! Although I have no confidence, at least I won't regret not submitting, right? Here's some of my submission (there were 4 projects to send/2pg LO, 1pg LO, paper craft project & card)...






This past weekend was DH's college (Kwansei Gakuin Univ.) new year's party in Hoffman Estates (Hilldale CC) and his band was the main event...what pressure! To top it off, they had to do KARAOKE...how many songs did they need to know?! YIKES! Well, I thought they did well and sounded very good! I TRIED to take pictures but they kept moving! UGH! So I'm only posting a couple of pictures from the party.




Kids are back in school after Martin Luther King holiday on Monday and teachers in school day on Tuesday...it will be a short week but they have already finished their Japanese homework - PHEW! One BIG headache out of the way - LOL!!

Weekend Happenings...

So I said I was looking for ScrapWorks papers & stuff...well, I was able to take a little road trip with my GF, Fiona, to Arlington Hts. (near the Japanese school). There's a fun LSS (local scrapbook store) called Lil Scrapper and it's next to Trader Joe's...another reason to be wandering around there! Let say that I had the BEST time chatting with the owner (Hi, Trudy!) and her staff...to a point where Fiona had to physically drag me out of the store! LOL!! Oh! This is what I purchased (but Fiona paid as a Christmas gift - thanks, Fi!!!) from that fun store!










OK..so that was last Friday that I went on that road trip. That evening was packed full of paper correcting for Japanese school homework which started its first day on Saturday....YIKES, try to correct over 50 pages in a night (well, it doesn't help if mom doesn't know how to read correctly too!). BUT got it done, got the rice cooker timed (for 6am), got the backpacks ready and got the boys' clothes laid out for tomorrow! Well, things went well with the exception of studying for the morning quizzes...hope the scores are passable! UGH!

So Saturday, the boys are at school, mom shopped for food (crockpot lasagna for the boys & Katie, their sitter), and dad's band came over for practice. The kids picked up from school bus stop at 3:30pm. By 4:30pm, the band members left, the sitter arrived and mom is in a bath robe with wet hair!!!! 5:00pm arrived and we were off to downtown Chicago to a dinner at mk restaurant, an off-beat place on Franklin & Chestnut.

My husband and I attended a private dinner to welcome Kiyoshi & Helen Nishikawa, hosted by a JCCC's (Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Chicago) committee of upper-level management of Japanese companies. Kiyoshi Nishikawa is one part of a famous MANZI duo (Japanese standup comedy) - managed by the famous Yoshimoto Kogyo (YK).

Some background info:
YK was started in Osaka in 1912 as a YOSE, a theater that hosts the traditional storytelling known as RAKUGO. This form of comedy has since largely dropped out of the mainstream and can be seen mainly on NHK public television or in "shitamachi" areas such as Tokyo's Asakusa. In its place, the comic style known as MANZAI has become the standard in Japanese entertainment. Consisting of two performers, a straight man and a funny man, it is much closer to the western idea of a comedy duo. Just as the US had Abbott & Costello and the UK had Morecombe & Wise, Japan had Yasu-Kiyo. Yokoyama Yasushi and Nishikawa Kiyoshi were the biggest comedy stars of their day (the 1970s and 80s) and one of Yoshimoto's most successful acts. Yokoyama had that rare comic genius that is so often tinged with a self-destructive streak. His impeccable comic timing and stage presence were mixed with unpredictable off-stage behaviour and excessive drinking that led to his death in 1996 at the age of 51.
(Information taken from Japan-zone.com)

His wife, Helen, born to a Kyoto mother and an American father (who lives in NY; they are seperated) was also an entertainer at YK. She was making more money than her future husband! LOL!! That's how they met and have been together 40 years...they are such a nice couple! Here's a picture of Helen and I...we both look so tired and it was the end of the dinner when this was taken.










Now comes Sunday and at 10am, we're headed out to the New Year's Party and the 40th anniversary of the JCCC at the Rosemont Convention Center. There's at least 800 attendees (10 people per table and there were about 80+ tables) and apparently there a party of 60 people arrived...don't know the story if it was a mis-count or they just showed up! But that set the whole event back about 30 minutes. The boys are in the kids' zone and that alone used up a few of the smaller ballrooms in the convention center. They had pinball machines, videos, games of all sorts and lunch, of course. The Nishikawas performed but we thought they were funnier at the private dinner. We did not win any of the grand prize...just a box of golf balls! Better practice, my dear husband! LOL!! It was a tiring day...we got home close to 5pm! UGH...dinner time! So tired but managed to deep fry a dozen chicken tenders, miso soup, rice and some salad.

And that was our weekend happenings....same kind of nutty schedule for the next weekend as well! But Sunday will be a non-eventful day...we hope!

First layout of the year...

...which I scraplifted from the fabulous Miss Ali Edwards! She made the same kind of mosaic of holiday cards from friends and family soooooo I decided "hey! why not?" I happily punched away with my CM 1.5" square punch (one of my fav tools) and came up with this layout. The beautiful ornament piece is from my wonderful friend & sorority sister, Beth, who is also a member of the Spellbinders Wizard design team (Yeah, Beth!!). I took this piece from the holiday card I got from her and her handsome boys are included at the bottom right corner! I am really pleased how this layout so thank you, Miss Ali!!!

OK, I am going to CKU-A so that means I will not spend any money on scrapbooking supplies unless it's absolutely neccessary....um, I went to More Than Memories LSS (Schaumburg, IL/ www.morethanmemoriesonline.com )! I had to get the KODOMO NO KAO products! Been trying to find its papers and stamps....well, I found them there! UGH! It could be worse....I only spent $28. They had some great stuff so if you're in the neighborhood go visit them! Oh, here's what I purchased...



I will TRY to behave myself...well, after I get some Scrap Works papers and then I'll behave :0P

Back To Normal (?)

Well, we made it back to school today and in the nick of time! I love my boys but two weeks of break.....well, I need it to be OVER! LOL!

Starting today, no more PlayStation2, GameBoyAdvance or PSP (I think that's correct), no sleeping in and no fighting (all right, less fighting!)....PHEW! BUT there was one exception...DH! He has off until tomorrow but I had plans!

I met with one of Japanese SB friends whom I met through a mutual internet friend from Japan. Both ladies are also attending CKU-A in Oakbrook at the end of March. I think she needed a break too! Aurora schools has a different winter break than we do....a week late start so she brought all three of her beautiful kids with her to Archivers - Naperville this morning....they are under the age of 6! We managed to visit for an hour and half before the kids got tired of Blues Clues and Care Bears. It was fun meeting her. Hope to get together on a weekend day so that she can scrap in peace - LOL!

CKU-A Chicago is a weekend of intense scrapbooking...each CKU (Creating Keepsakes University - CK magazine is one of the major SB mags around) has a "theme" (regular CKU, CKU-Masters, CKU-Teachers and now CKU-Albums). I have been waiting and saving since the program started. All I wanted to do was attend one but it had to be close to home. CKU announced that they were going to CT but looking at the date, I knew I couldn't make it. I was moving from NJ to IL - UGH! Once I heard rumors that one will be in Chicago sometime in 2006, I search for some clue to WHERE...found through the CKU message board it was Oakbrook Hills. I called right away! That was back in August of 2005! I am so excited to go! Unfortunately, it will be during the boys' spring break but we were not planning a trip so I was lucky!

I was reading through the CKU-A Chicago message boards and I see the flow of swap postings....AH! which one should I choose?! I'm really leaning towards a few: circle journal (never did one), state goodie bag ($25 worth of stuff that represents your state), CKU album (make 10 6x6 identical LOs) and one from my album track/class (6x6 LO). YIKES! that is in addition to my "homework" for my track which is btw, Junkitz's Element of Style (3 designer teachers & 3 distinct styles) - how KEWL is that?!

Not only was it time to go back to our daily routine, it was also the end of new years holiday as we know in the Japanese sense. We finally finished our traditional Japanese New Year's dishes which is called OSECHI-RYORI (it's a variation of dishes that are eaten during the new year's holiday - till Jan. 3 typically). Long ago, people finished cooking these dishes by new year's eve with the purpose of consuming them for several days without the need to cook. Most of these dishes are packed in stacks of beautiful lacquer boxes (usually 3 boxes high) called JUBAKO. Each dish/type of food has a meaning such as good health, fertility, good harvest, happiness and long life. But now, many purchase these dishes at stores instead of cooking them at home...there are so many dishes to make and many households have two incomes so time is important :0) Me? Well, my DH makes some of the dishes (maybe 3 or 4) and the rest, we buy at MITSUWA store in Arlington Hts. (for those who are not familiar, it is a HUGE Japanese super market with a bakery, food court, bookstore, travel agent, realtor, liquor store and video rental place). I posted a picture of the OSECHI-RYORI.

My first post!

Hi! I decided to blog too! Now I can't claim "senior moment" when someone asks me what I did or when I did what I did....heehee!

Well, my new year's resolution was to get my blog going on the first....I already broke it! UGH! It is now around 1:50am (CST) but hey, better late than never!

This new years was very nice. We spend our time with the congregation members of our church...Japanese new years ceremony and had some yummy lunch. It was also one of our long standing member (Midori-san)'s DH 39th memorial service so we had some more folks attend...it was nice to have a wide age range of people together.

So I decide to make this blog about my scrapbooking "addiction," my Japanese heritage (well, at least what I know about things) and about our religion (Nichiren Shu Buddhism...NOTE: not to be confused with Nichiren Sho Shu or Soka Gakkai...although we all chant NAMU MYO HO REN GE KYO, doesn't mean they're all the same).

So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL! Thanks for reading!